Bill Monroe , Mac Wiseman And Don Reno Reunion 1960

1960-08-14 (Sunday)

Watermelon Park

Berryville, Va.



 1   Travelling Down This Lonesome Road
 2   Can't You Hear Me Callin'
 3   Will You Be Lovin' Another Man
 4   When He Reached Down His Hand For Me
 5   I Hear A Sweet Voice Calling
 6   Bluegrass Stomp
 7   When You Are Lonely
 8   Lonesome Road Blues









This set has previously circulated incorrectly as Newport 1960. Bill Monroe did not play Newport until 1963 so we know that was incorrect. 

Neil Rosenberg helped to track down the correct date, with a resource at Bluegrass Unlimited: Walt Saunders

"I tracked down the date of the show Don Owens produced at Watermelon Park, in Berryville, Va. The date was Sunday, August 14, 1960. It was billed as 'Blue Grass Day.' I found the ad in the newspaper archives of the Handley Library in Winchester, Va. It appeared in The Winchester Star several days before the event. The ad listed the artists. Here they are, misspellings and all, in the order and pretty much how they appeared: 

MAX WISEMAN 
and the OSBORNE BROTHERS 
and 
SCOTTY STONEMAN, 
BILL MONROE and the BLUE GRASS BOYS, 
DON RENO and RED SMILEY, 
BUCK RYAN and SMITTY IRWIN, BILL HARRIS. 

The print for Wiseman, the Osbornes and Stoneman was bold and larger size than the other artists, which indicates who Owens considered to be the biggest draw, not only in the northern Shenandoah Valley, but also in the Washington, DC area, as he advertised in on his TV show. 

Don knew all of these artists personally, so I assume the misspellings were not his, but likely the folks at the newspaper. Bill Harris of course is Bill Harrell, and Buck and Smitty were in his band. 
This show was approximately a year before the one at Luray (I believe July 4, 1961), which has received all of the attention ever since. 

First seeded in the Bluegrasshub by J Norstad 
Research and identification by aikowolf 
March 11, 2012